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1 2 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1. RATIONALE Language plays an important role in human evolution and history. Since language developed, many fields of science have developed at the same time. English vocabulary is plentiful with thousands of words and idioms among which words and idioms denoting unhappiness are commonly used in daily life. However, hardly any study of these words and idioms has been carried out by Vietnamese linguists. Mastering such a plentiful source of vocabulary is not an easy task for learners of a foreign language including English and Vietnamese. As a result, this study is carried out to make a contrastive analysis of the words and idioms expressing unhappiness in English and in Vietnamese in these two aspects. In this way, the study could help learners of English or Vietnamese as a foreign language have a good insight into the words and idioms expressing unhappiness in English Vs Vietnamese (WIEUEV). Thanks to this, these learners could learn English and Vietnamese better. 1.2. AIMS The aims of this study are to: - Investigate the syntactic and semantic features of words and idioms expressing unhappiness in English Vs Vietnamese. - Find out the syntactic and semantic similarities and differences between words and idioms expressing unhappiness in English and Vietnamese. - Offer some suggestions for teaching and learning English and Vietnamese in general and for the translation work of words and idioms in these languages expressing unhappiness in particular. 1.3. OBJECTIVES The study is designed to: 2 - Describe the syntactic and semantic features of words and idioms expressing unhappiness in English. - Describe the syntactic and semantic features of words and idioms expressing unhappiness in Vietnamese. - Make a contrast of the syntactic and semantic features of these words and idioms expressing unhappiness in English Vs Vietnamese. 1.4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY Due to the time and resource constraints, this study is confined to the study of words and idioms expressing unhappiness in English Vs in Vietnamese in terms of syntactic and semantic features. 1.5. RESEARCH QUESTIONS In order to achieve the above aims and objectives, the following research questions could be put forward: 1. What are the syntactic and semantic features of words and idioms expressing unhappiness in English? 2. What are the syntactic and semantic features of words and idioms expressing unhappiness in Vietnamese? 3. What are the similarities and differences in the syntactic and semantic features of words and idioms expressing unhappiness in English Vs Vietnamese? 1.6. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The study could help cross- cultural communicators use the words and idioms expressing unhappiness in English and Vietnamese better. Moreover, the study could help learners of English and Vietnamese as a foreign language have a deeper insight into both English and Vietnamese words and idioms including words and idioms expressing unhappiness in English and Vietnamese, and reduce the risk of committing errors when using these words and idioms. 1.7. ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY The study is intended to be organized into 5 chapters: Chapter 1 - Introduction 3 Chapter 2 - Review of Literature Chapter 3 – Method and Procedure Chapter 4 – Discussion of Findings Chapter 5 – Conclusion CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1.1. The Previous Studies of English Idioms of Foreign Researchers Many linguists have so far carried out research into semantics and grammar aspects and provided the related profound concepts. Hurford and Heasley (2001), who studied semantic features of words, assume that the meaning of words could vary in different contexts. In addition, Halliday M.A.K in An Introduction to Functional Grammar (2004) shows the relationship between text and grammar. The book describes and explains the meaning - forming ways of modern English. 2.1.2. The Previous Related Studies in English from Vietnamese Researchers This study is followed by a lot of studies, among which is the one titled An Introduction to Semantics, written by Nguyen Hoa (2001). According to him, words are regarded as the meaningful units of a language (the smallest, independent). Moreover, his study presents many examples with detailed explanations about homonymy, polysemy, synonymy, etc… Besides, Nguyen Thi Van Lam in An Investigation into the English Words and Idioms Denoting Happiness (2002) presents some interesting findings on teaching and learning vocabulary in terms of the meaning of new items. 2.2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.2.1. Words 4 2.2.1.1. Definition of Words The most convincing way to define the term “word” is bared on the lexical approach with the most satisfactory definition: “A word is a dialectical unity of form and content, independent unit of language to make sense by itself” by Gerald (1994). 2.2.1.2. Definition of Unhappiness There are many definition of unhappiness from different sources. However, this study is devoted to analyze the meanings of words and idioms in the most general one. Unhappiness shows the feeling of sadness, discontentment, unpleasure, angry. Besides, unhappiness also refers to unlucky, tactless, unsuitable situation or even the poverty. 2.2.1.3. Word Meaning In this part, word meaning is presented in the two aspects: Grammatical meaning and Lexical meaning. a. Grammatical Meaning Grammatical meaning is what unites words with different lexical meanings in different parts of speech. b. Lexical Meaning Lexical meaning covers denotative and connotative meaning. - Denotative Meaning (Denotation) - Connotative Meaning (Connotation) 2.2.2 Idioms 2.2.2.1. Definition of Idiom In this section, definition of idiom is presented under three feilds: Grammatical, lexical and semantic aspects. 2.2.2.2. Origin of Idioms a. Idioms from Living Circumstance In this part, we would like to discuss the origin of idioms from living circumstance such as: chết như rạ, xỏ lá ba que, ăn bờ ở bụi… b. Idioms from Historical Allusion + Historical events 5 + Legends and Mythologies + Literary works + Working people’s everyday language 2.2.2.3. Main Features of Idioms According to Abrar [121] idioms have many common features such as Non-compositionality, Non-substitutability, and Non- modifiability, etc. These features could be presented as follows: a. Lexical Integrity and Structural Stability b. Semantic Opacity 2.2.3. Idioms and Other Language Units 2.2.3.1. Idioms and Proverbs The boundary between idioms and proverbs is sometimes ambiguous and a perfect solution is hardly possible. In general, we could put them in separate groups as follows: - Proverbs is a short saying expressing popular wisdom, a truth or a moral lesson in a concise and imaginary way [14]. - Idioms are also set expressions, short sayings usually characterized by the fact that their meaning cannot easily be deduced from their components. 2.2.3.2. Idioms and Collocations The term collocation is defined as sequences of lexical items which habitually co-occur, which are nonetheless fully transparent in the sense that each lexical constituent is also a semantic constituent.[16] However, the borderline between collocations and idioms is not truly clear because they are both syntactic phrases that collocate habitually and exhibit a high degree of fixedness and they have some features in common. 2.2.3.3. Idioms and clichés Clichés is another type of fixed expression. For making the distinction between clichés and idioms, it is necessary to discuss about the definition and semantic features of these two expressions. Firstly, clichés are quotations or sayings which are so frequently used 6 that they have become hackneyed and stale. As they are constantly and mechanically repeated, they have lost their expressiveness and are therefore better avoided: stand shoulder to shoulder with…., pave the way to the bright new world, once upon a time…. 2.3. CONCLUDING REMARKS This chapter has been devoted to give literature background and theoretical framework for analyzing and contrasting words and idioms expressing “unhappiness” in English and in Vietnamese in terms of syntactic and semantic features. Many definitions and semantic features are given in this chapter in order to clarify some grammatical issues such as: word classes, word formation and some semantic and structural features of words and idioms in general and those of words and idioms expressing unhappiness in particular. At the same time, the study presents some distinctions between idioms and other language units in order to highlight their distingctive features as a framework for further contrast in the Findings and Discussions Chapter. CHAPTER 3 METHODS AND PROCEDURES 3.1. RESEARCH METHOD The descriptive method and the comparative method are used in the the study. 3.2. DATA COLLECTION METHOD The materials used in the study are collected from the following sources: - The bilingual short stories, magazines and novels. - The Grammar book written by English and Vietnamese linguists. - Bilingual dictionaries, English dictionaries and Vietnamese dictionaries. - The linguistic journals, the Internet websites, films. 7 3.3. DATA ANALYSIS After collecting words and idioms expressing unhappiness in English and Vietnamese from English and Vietnamese books, dictionaries, novels, magazines, stories, journals and films, I analyze and compare two main aspects: syntactic and semantic one. Syntactically, the classification of the data is mainly based on the different structural categories, namely: nouns, noun phrases, verbs, verb phrases, adjectives, adjective phrases, prepositions, prepositional phrases, adverbs and adverb phrases. Semantically, the classification is carried out on the basis of typical semantic features of words and idioms expressing unhappiness in English and Vietnamese. 3.4. PROCEDURES The steps will be involved: - Collecting words and idioms expressing unhappiness in English and in Vietnamese from books, magazines, novels, short stories, dictionaries, the Internet, films and ASO. - Analyzing the syntactic and semantic features of words and idioms expressing in English and Vietnamese. - Identifying the similarities and differences between the two languages concerning words and idioms expressing unhappiness with regard to syntactic and semantic features. - Suggesting some implications for teaching and learning this popular kind of words and idioms in English and in Vietnamese as a foreign language. CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS This chapter will focus on illustrating and contrasting Words and Idioms denoting unhappiness in English and Vietnamese in terms of semantic and syntactic features. 8 4.1. FINDINGS 4.1.1 Words This part presents some knowledge of Vietnamese words system versus English words system in term of Syntactic and Semantics. As a result, the study investigates into parts of speech (or categories) at the level of single words and the performance of those words in phrases. 4.1.1.1 Syntactic Functions of English Words Expressing Unhappiness in Terms of Parts of Speech This part presents some figures of applying those parts of speech in using language and some knowledge of their functions. Part of speech Number Frequency Noun 76 38.0% Verb 22 11.0% Adjective 94 47.0% Adverb 8 4.0% Total Number 200 100% 4.1.1.2 Syntactic Functions of Vietnamese Words Denoting Unhappiness in Term of Part of Speech Under the observation, the part gives the figures to show the frequency of words denoting unhappiness in some official documents and literature works in Vietnamese: Part of speech Number Frequency Noun 48 24.0% Verb 44 22.0% Adjective 88 44.0% Adverb 20 10.0% Total number 200 100% 4.1.1.3 Semantic Features of English and Vietnamese Words Denoting Unhappiness a. Adjectives Expressing Displeasure or Discontent Unhappy is a neutral, generic adjective to express the human’s emotion of displeasure. People often use unhappy to express their 9 feeling when they are annoyed or bothered by someone or something. The synonym adjectives are disagreed, disappointed… English words Vietnamese words Unhappy, disagreed, disappointed, discontented, incompatible… Thất vọng, khó chịu, không hài lòng, bất mãn, không hòa hợp, bức xúc, gay gắt . b. Adjectives Expressing Unfortunate, Unlucky situation The adjective unhappy is functioned as pre-modifier of noun phrases stating unfortunate events, and it is synonymous with “doleful”, “gloomy”, “woeful”, “dismal”… English words Vietnamese words Doleful, gloomy, woeful, dismal, wretched, bitter, black, poor… Không may, bất hạnh, khốn khổ, xui xẻo,cùng cực, ñau thương, bi thương, … c. Expressing Unsuitable, Inappropriate Things In this sense, unhappy functions as pre-modified of noun phrases, it means unsuitable or inappropriate. 4.1.2. Idioms 4.1.2.1 Syntactic Features of English and Vietnamese Idioms Expressing Unhappiness a. English and Vietnamese Idioms Denoting Unhappiness of Noun Phrase Patterns • (Article) + Adjective + Noun 8.0% of collected idioms are in this pattern. Among them there is one idiom containing noun denoting unhappiness and the rest has adjectives denoting unhappiness serving as pre-modifiers to the nouns. There is no phrase idiom in this pattern due to the syntactic feature that most adjective follow the noun in Vietnamese. In English In Vietnamese Unexpected misfortune, bitter bill, Black eye, rotten luck, sad sight, dead silence… 10 • Adjective + Noun + Adjective + Noun In English In Vietnamese giàu 3 họ khó 3 ñời, bầm gan tím ruột ñỏ mặt tía tai, chướng tai gai mắt, ñơn hình ñộc bóng, … Surprisingly, there are 26 Vietnamese idioms denoting unhappiness in this pattern. Reversal style is applied in these idioms in order to emphasize the information that people want to convey and the repetition of structure Adjective + Noun creates the rhythm that makes it easy to remember. On the contrary, there is no idiom like this in English. • •• • Noun + Adjective Account for syntactic characteristic, English idiom has no example in this pattern. Most Vietnamese idioms under this form illustrate some nuances of parts of body. Six Vietnamese idioms in this pattern are found, which occupied 3% of collected idioms. In English In Vietnamese chiếc thân cô quạnh, mặt lầm lầm, mặt mày ủ dột,… • Noun + Adjective + Noun + Adjective Similarly, no English idiom is found in this pattern. However, Vietnamese has 30 idioms under the form of noun phrase pattern (15.0%). The parallel structures are mainly used in these noun phrases to give good rhythm so that people could remember and use them easily. In English In Vietnamese phận hẩm duyên ôi, nước mắt ngắn nước mắt dài, cơm ñen vận túng, gan héo ruột sầu, mặt ủ mày nhau, mặt cau mày có… 11 • •• • Noun + Noun There is hardly idiom expressing unhappiness in English or in Vietnamese in this pattern. There are four idioms in this pattern in English (2.0%), meanwhile, there is no idiom containing words expressing unhappiness in Vietnamese. In English In Vietnamese Heart sink, heart break, Dog’s life,… • •• • Noun ( Noun Phrase) + Prepositional Phrase There are three Vietnamese idioms in this pattern (11.0%). Meanwhile there are two idiom has this structure in English (2.0%). In English In Vietnamese Thorn in one's side, death still Mặt như cái bơm, mặt như lựu ñạn, mặt xanh như tàu lá, lòng ñầy oán hận… • •• • Noun + Subordinate clause In English In Vietnamese Nothing sting like the truth Trời gieo tai giáng họa This pattern might be popularly used in English idioms, however, there is only one idiom denoting unhappiness in this pattern (0.5%). Similarly, there is one idiom like this in Vietnamese (0.5%) • •• • Noun + Verb This pattern is popular neither in English nor Vietnamese; therefore, one Vietnamese idiom is found meanwhile there is no English idiom in this pattern. In English In Vietnamese cắn rứt lương tâm We have just studied some syntactic features of English and Vietnamese idioms expressing unhappiness in term of noun phrase pattern. The results of observation are briefly showed in the table 4.4.3 12 Table 4.3 Frequency of Idioms Expressing Unhappiness in English Versus Vietnamese Under Noun Phrase Patterns English Vietnamese English and Vietnamese Idioms Expressing Unhappiness N % N % [1] (Article)+Adjective + Noun 16 8.0 0 0.0 [2] Adjective+Noun+Adjective+ Noun 0 0.0 26 13.0 [3] Noun + Noun 4 2.0 8 4.0 [4] Noun + Adjective 0 0.0 6 3.0 [5] Noun / NP + Prep. P 4 2.0 22 11.0 [6] Noun + Sub. Clause 1 0.5 1 0.5 Noun Phrase Patterns [7] Noun + Adj + Noun + Adj 0 0.0 30 15.0 [8] Noun + Adjective 0 0.0 1 0.5 Total Number 25 12.5 94 47.0 b. English and Vietnamese Idioms Expressing Unhappiness of Verb Phrase Patterns • Verb + Noun/ Noun phrase Verb is the third popular categories in term of words denoting unhappiness as we mention above. The collocation of verb is rather flexible, and this pattern considered as the basic structure of verbs in English, therefore, 31 idioms in English (15.5%) are found and 14 Vietnamese idiom (7.0%) is under the form of Verb + Noun/ Noun phrase. In English In Vietnamese make a long face, miss fire, go bananas, get cold feet… vãi nước mắt, bất cộng ñái thiên, nổi tam bành, ñánh trống ngực,… • Verb + Noun + Verb + Noun On the contrary, Vietnamese idioms gain the upper hand over English ones in this pattern. The parallel structure is effectively used 13 in these idioms to make it smooth and easy to remember. There are 29 Vietnamese idioms (14.5%). In English In Vietnamese toát mồ hôi dựng tóc gáy, ñứt gan ñứt ruột, chuốc dữ mua hờn, gieo tai rắc họa, khóc gió than mưa,… • Verb + Noun + Preposition In this pattern, verbs are transitive verbs and serve as the head verbs. There is one English idiom containing words denoting unhappiness – nuisanance and the others express unhappiness through some actions referring to people’s emotion. In Vietnamese, verbs go with nouns denoting unhappiness and preposition phrase to give real actions that people could master at sight. 18 idioms account for 9.0% of English idioms and 10 idioms account for 5, 0% of Vietnamese idioms. In English In Vietnamese bite s.o's head off, eat one's heart out, make a nuisance of one's self, fall flat on one's face,… è cổ mà chịu, chuốc vạ vào thân, làm ơn nên oán,… • Verb + Adjective This pattern is not popular in English in case of expressing unhappiness. There is one idiom in English that occupies 0.5% of collected idioms. Whereas, four Vietnamese idioms in this pattern are found and repeated adjectives are used effectively after verbs in order to emphasize the levels of emotion or action. In English In Vietnamese see red nổi giận ñùng ñùng, thất bại liểng xiểng,… • Verb + Adjective + Verb + Adjective Once again, the parallel structure is applied in these Vietnamese idioms in this pattern. “Đắng cay” is a compound 14 adjective and it is inserted with verbs that are in the same semantic meaning: “ngậm”, “nuốt” or “ăn”. There is no idiom in this pattern in English. In English In Vietnamese ngậm ñắng nuốt cay, ăn cay nuốt ñắng, ghét cay ghét ñắng,… • Verb + Noun + Verb This structure is popular in neither English nor Vietnamese. Therefore there is one idiom in English and no one in Vietnamese in the collected data. In English In Vietnamese bear the grass grow • Verb + Noun + Noun Similarly, this structure is not in Vietnamese grammar and is limited used in English idioms. In English In Vietnamese rub s.o the wrong way • Verb + Adverb + Verb + Adverb There is no English idiom in this pattern. However, 3.0% colleted idioms in Vietnamese is in this pattern. Parallel structure is used in these idioms; however, the verbs are not synonym, they are antonym of the others. This structure gives the opposite image to emphasize the unhappy situation. In English In Vietnamese chết dở sống dở, chết ñi sống lại, khóc dở cười dở,… • Verb + Preposition/ Preposition Phrase This pattern could be considered one of the typical of English idioms. The structure “verb + preposition” is also called phrasal verb which is popularly used in English. As a result, 53 English idioms 15 accounting for 26.5% reflect the typical grammar of English. Meanwhile, there are 4 Vietnamese idioms (2.0%) in this pattern. All of them have comparative structure with the comparative word “như”. In English In Vietnamese come to grief, fall into misfortune, down on one's luck, mope around, fire up,… rít lên như xé lụa, khóc như cha chết,lừ ñừ như ông Từ vào ñền, … Table 4.4 Frequency of Idioms Expressing Unhappiness in English Versus Vietnamese Under Verb Phrase English Vietnames e English and Vietnamese Idioms Expressing Unhappiness N % N % [1] Verb + Noun 31 15.5 14 7.0 [2] Verb + Noun + Verb + Noun 0 0.0 29 14.5 [3] Verb + Noun / NP + Prep. P 18 9.0 10 5.0 [4] Verb + Preposition/ Preposition Phrase 53 26.5 4 2.0 [5] Verb + Noun / NP + Noun 1 0.5 0 0.0 [6] Verb + Noun / NP + Verb 1 0.5 0 0.0 [7] Verb + Adjective 1 0.5 4 2.0 [8] Verb + Adjective + Verb + Adjective 0 0.0 12 6.0 Verb Phrase Patterns [9] Verb + Adverb + Noun + Adverb 0 0.0 7 3.5 Total Number 105 52.5 80 40 c. English and Vietnamese Idioms Expressing Unhappiness of Adjective Phrase Patterns • As + Adjective + As + Noun There are a large number of English idioms have this comparative structure. However, idioms in this pattern denoting 16 unhappiness are limited in 6 idioms (3.0%). This pattern doesn’t exist in Vietnamese. In English In Vietnamese as sour as vinegar, as nutty as a fruitcake, as dead as a door- nail,… • Adjective + Adjective In English, two adjectives combine with each other by “and” to make idioms. Among idioms in this pattern, there is only one idiom denoting unhappiness. In Vietnamese, the partial repetition style makes these idioms smooth and has good rhythm. In English In Vietnamese hot and bothered ñăm ñăm chiêu chiêu, hoảng hốt ngẩn ngơ, mừng mừng tủi tủi,… • Adjective + Verb + Adjective This pattern is rare in English as well as in Vietnamese denoting unhappiness. There is one Vietnamese idiom in this pattern and no English one. In English In Vietnamese cả giận mất khôn • Adjective + Preposition/ Preposition Phrase Prepositions and preposition phrases are commonly used in English and in Vietnamese. With this structure, idioms give a real image to listeners. In English In Vietnamese hot under the collar, heavy on hand, dead against s.o khó như ma, ñen như quạ,buồn như trấu cắn 17 • More + Adjective + Than + Adjective This is the comparative form of English grammar. Therefore, no Vietnamese in this pattern is found and there is one English idiom. In English In Vietnamese more dead than alive • Adverb + Adjective + Adverb + Adjective This is the specific structure of Vietnamese grammar. There is no idiom in this pattern in English. In Vietnamese, the opposite words “sống/ chết” are inserted by the adverb “bán, cố, nửa” in order to give the difficult and confused situations. There are three Vietnamese idioms in this pattern denoting unhappiness (1.5%). In English In Vietnamese bán sống bán chết, cố sống cố chết, nửa sống nửa chết There are some structures that are specific in Vietnamese grammar. Therefore, I can not find any English idioms in these patterns. However, they are not popularly used in Vietnamese idioms denoting unhappiness. I list these structures in order to show the variety of Vietnamese grammar. • Adjective + Verb + Noun In English In Vietnamese buồn thúi ruột, sợ dựng tóc gáy • Adjective + Adjective + Noun In English In Vietnamese khiếp ñảm kinh hồn • Adjective + Verb + Adjective + Verb In English In Vietnamese khó ăn khó nói 18 • Adjective + Noun In English In Vietnamese Thất kinh hồn vía Table 4.5 Frequency of Idioms Expressing Unhappiness in English Versus Vietnamese Under Adjective Phrase English Vietnamese English and Vietnamese Idioms Expressing Unhappiness N % N % [1] As + Adjective + As 6 3.0 0 0.0 [2] Adjective + Adjective 1 0.5 4 2.0 [3] Adjective + Verb + Adjective 0 0.0 1 0.5 [4] Adjective + Preposition/ Prep. Phrase 8 4.0 12 6.0 [5] More + Adjective + than + Adjective 1 0.5 0 0.0 [6] Adverb+Adjective+Adverb+ Adjective 0 0.0 3 1.5 [7] Adjective + Verb + Noun 0 0.0 2 1.0 [8] Adjective + Adjective + Noun 0 0.0 1 0.5 [9] Adjective + Verb + Adjective + Verb 0 0.0 1 0.5 Adjective Phrase Patterns [10] Adjective + Noun 0 0.0 1 0.5 Total Number 16 8.0 24 12.5 d. English and Vietnamese Idioms Expressing Unhappiness of Preposition phrase Patterns • Preposition Phrase The majority of English idioms are under the Preposition phrase pattern. In fact, there are 54 English idioms denoting unhappiness, which account for 27.0% of 200 English idioms. There . theoretical framework for analyzing and contrasting words and idioms expressing unhappiness in English and in Vietnamese in terms of syntactic and semantic features. . formation and some semantic and structural features of words and idioms in general and those of words and idioms expressing unhappiness in particular. At the same